(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) U.S. stocks moved higher Thursday with gains sparked by news of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine starting this Sunday as well as rising oil prices and news of a potential merger.
As of noon in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 59 points at 17921 while the Nasdaq gained 38 points to 4839 and the S&P 500 climbed 13 points to 2082.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said both sides have agreed to withdraw heavy weapons from the eastern Ukraine region. IMF chief Christine Lagarde also announced today that Ukraine would receive about $40 billion in funding over the next four years.
European shares finished broadly higher today as a result of the news led by shares in Germany also supported after Sweden's central bank unexpectedly launched a quantitative easing program and cut a key interest rate into negative territory. The gains came even as Greece talks on Wednesday failed to reach a debt deal though talks are expected to continue on Monday.
On the economic calendar in the U.S. today government reports picked up pace with the Labor Department reporting that jobless claims climbed by a greater-than-expected 25000 to 304000 for the week ending February 7. Economists were expecting a climb to 290000 from the previous estimate of 278000 the week before.
Retail sales for January also came in showing a bigger-than-expected 0.8% drop the second straight decline. Retail sales minus autos and gas rose 0.2% last month also less than expected. Later in the morning business inventories rose only 0.1% in December but business sales fell a very sharp 0.9% for a third straight decline.
In commodities oil prices jumped after the Ukraine ceasefire news. WTI crude for March delivery was last up $1.88 to $50.81 a barrel in New York. Gold futures edged up $5 to $1225 an ounce.
In corporate activity Tesla () reported quarterly profit and revenue well below expectations citing weather and shipping problems sending shares down more than 6% on Thursday.
() reported earnings and revenue that topped views while also raising its dividend by 2 cents to 21 cents per share. Shares jumped over 8.5%.
Whole Foods (NASDAQ:WFM) also rose after beating profit estimates while revenue matched forecasts. The company also said same store sales were increasing due to price cuts. After the closing bell today investors will be watching for quarterly numbers from AIG () () Kraft (NASDAQ:KRFT) and ().
In other news major () shareholder Carl Icahn tweeted that the iPhone maker's stock should be trading at $216 which would value the company at about $1.3 trillion. The California-based tech company closed with a market cap of just over $727 billion on Wednesday with a gain of 2.3%. Shares added another 1.1% on Thursday.
() has agreed to buy () for about $1.3 billion further consolidating the online travel industry. Shares of both companies soared.
Shares of American Express () plunged over 6% after it announced it will end its U.S. co-branding and merchant-acceptance agreement with on March 31 2016.
In other markets Japanese stocks rose today as the market reopened from a holiday during which the yen weakened and positive machine orders data were reported. The Nikkei closed up 1.85% on Thursday.
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